Lower Monumental Dam and the Palouse River
Today we had the luxury of slowing down to river time and spending the day on the water in ship, Zodiac, and kayak. We started our day heading east on the Snake River en route to Lower Monumental Dam. During breakfast, we learned that we could “lock through” the next lock by Zodiac if we wished. The ship, of course, would be going too, but from water level, looking up at 100-foot walls and our ship, we would have a whole new perspective. So, together with the National Geographic Sea Bird, two Zodiacs full of guests pulled into Lower Monumental Lock and secured to the bollard for the nearly 90-foot rise in elevation to take us to the height of the next reservoir on the Snake River.
After lunch we anchored at the confluence of the Snake and Palouse Rivers, 20 miles above Lower Monumental Dam. The wide river and towering basalt cliffs seemed out of place for such a small river, and indeed they were. The landscape was carved in an earlier time. It was the setting of the Bretz Floods, huge ice age floods that raced from Glacial Lake Missoula to the Pacific Ocean over 12,000 years ago. On our Zodiac and kayak adventures here today we saw porcupines, beavers, red-tailed hawks, amazing basalt formations, and stunning reflections in the calm waters.
In addition to river level exploration, we drove up above to see the Palouse Falls State Park for some hiking and also to admire one of the treasures left in the wake of the flood. The falls, a mere shadow of the one that carved this landscape is probably more majestic and definitely more serene than the torrent that raced through here at 65 mph at the end of the last ice age. We were happy to be here admiring it today. No one knows if anyone witnessed it then.
On the way back to the National Geographic Sea Bird we enjoyed late afternoon fall colors and the waxing moon.
